


Date Night

by HotDogHowitzer



Series: Infinity Week 2020 [6]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Infinity Week (Halo), Writing Prompt, johnsky, lasky you played yourself, roland is all about malicious compliance, sarah BLEASE, there's no actual sex in this sorry to disappoint, tom will forever be the little brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:27:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotDogHowitzer/pseuds/HotDogHowitzer
Summary: Sarah decides to seek refuge from unwanted attention in Tom's quarters for their date night, and accidentally discovers a secret.
Relationships: John-117 | Master Chief/Thomas Lasky, Thomas Lasky & Sarah Palmer
Series: Infinity Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933294
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	Date Night

“You really making coffee this late in the afternoon?” Sarah asked.

She was sprawled on the couch in Lasky’s quarters, one ankle over her knee. It was their usual 'date night', and this week they'd taken refuge in the only place that had good company and had a door nobody would knock on.

Thomas replied with a shrug. “Might as well. Though I have tea if you prefer.” He offered. 

shook her head. "Nah, coffee's fine. Black, with sugar." Tom nodded and popped the cup into the coffee machine, then got out two mugs.

"So, any hot dates tonight?" Tom smirked as he leaned back on the counter.

Sarah rolled her eyes and groaned at his usual teasing. "There's nobody on this tub worth going on a hot date _with_." She lamented.

Tom put one hand to his chest. "I'm offended you would say such a thing when I'm standing right here," he said with a smile, and Sarah laughed. 

"Pfft, you know what I mean," she scoffed as Tom poured the coffee. "Everyone just wants to know if my tits and ass are augs too, or if I 'slay in the bedroom as well as I do on the battlefield'." She said the last part with air quotes. 

"Someone actually _said_ that to you?" Tom gave her an incredulous look as he held out her coffee, then sat next to her on the couch.

"Oh yeah. And that's just what they say to my face. People tend to forget that Spartans can hear way better than everyone else, so while the marines over _there_ ," She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, "are out of earshot for _you_ , I can hear every word."

"Do I even want to know what you overhear?" Tom asked as he sipped his coffee.

She rolled her eyes. "I'll spare you the sleaze. So, how about you? No hot date tonight with one of the many fine specimens of humanity we have on board?" Sarah asked sarcastically. "Or are you in the same boat as me?"

"Same boat, literally," Tom replied, laughing.

Sarah arched an eyebrow. "But not _figuratively?_ " she prodded.

"Oh, what ever." Tom waved her off, then lifted his mug to take a drink.

"I was about to say, I'm surprised you can walk to the bridge after what you and the Chief get up to whenever he's aboard." She winked at him.

There was a spray of coffee as Tom sputtered into his mug, then started coughing.

"WHO TOLD YOU?!" He blurted as soon as he could talk, and wiped his face with his shirt.

Sarah stared at him, then sat up and put her coffee aside. That had been intended as a _joke_.

"Tom," she said slowly. "Did you _actually_ fuck the Master Chief?"

For a long moment, he just looked at her. His face had gone red up to his ears, and she could almost see the gears grinding as he carefully considered his answer. 

"No," he said firmly. "No, I did _not_ fuck the Master Chief."

She could tell he wasn't lying, but he also wasn't telling the whole story…

"So, the Master Chief fucked _you_ ," she guessed. He closed his eyes and inhaled. 

"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement." 

Sarah's eyes widened. "You've gotta be kidding me," she said with a grin. "You actually did it. You actually got together with _the_ Spartan—your big, green, dream machine!"

Tom rolled his eyes at the moniker. "What do you mean _my_ 'big, green dream machine'? You say that like I've had a crush on him my whole life!" he said defensively.

Sarah's grin mellowed into a smug smile. " _Have you?_ " She had a hunch the answer was 'yes', he wasn't exactly good at hiding that he had some sort of interest in Spartan-117. But whether is was your garden-variety hero worship or something else, she hadn't pinned down. Yet.

" _No!_ " he blurted over-dramatically as his face went even redder. Then added, "Sort of."

Sarah's expression morphed from smug satisfaction to the stunned but giddy look of an older sibling who'd just found something embarrassing in their kid brother's diary. "Oh my god. I am so glad I came over tonight," she said, grinning Cheshire cat-like. "Am I the only one who knows? Does _Roland_ know?" 

"Does Roland know what?" the AI asked innocently as his avatar blinked into existence. Tom started and his gaze snapped over to Roland standing on his desk's holodisk, and the momentary look of existential terror on his face made Sarah wish she had a camera. 

" _NO_!" Tom almost yelled as he jabbed a finger at the AI. "Don't you say a _word_."

Roland gave a peevish little gasp, clearly offended at being told off the moment he was summoned. H crossed his arms as string of text appeared in the air above him. _Fine_ , it read, _I won't_ _say a word_.

Tom closed his eyes and let out a defeated sigh. If he said anything else, he'd just be digging himself deeper at this point.   
At that, Roland clapped his hands together and turned to Sarah brightly. _So_ , a new line of text read, _what is it that I do or don't know?_

The commander leaned back and crossed one ankle over her knee, then laid each arm on the back of the couch. "Whether or not our good Captain has had any... physical encounters with Spartan-117," she asked lazily.

"God dammit," Tom groaned quietly, and put his face in his hand. But as more text appeared above Roland's head, Sarah could see the captain grinning behind his hand.

 _I am not at liberty to discuss the personal or intimate relationships of other crewmembers, Commander,_ Roland answered. _But believe me, I know everything that happens on this ship_. He cast a sidelong look at Thomas. _And a lot of them, I wish I could forget_.

"Ho-lee shit. When the hell did this even _happen_? The Master Chief hasn't been aboard recently. At least, not that I know of..." She looked over at Tom while she waited to see if Roland had more to say. Tom had drawn one leg up, arms clasped around his shin, and laid his head on his knee.

"I hate you both so much right now," he laughed.

 _Well, ship's records indicate that Spartan-117 was aboard Infinity after the events of Reqiuem in 2557. And intermittently throughout autumn of the same year,_ Roland said. _Aaand twice while Infinity was in dry dock, back in December._

Sarah cocked an eyebrow. So he hadn't been aboard in a while. 

"Did he ever visit the Captain's quarters?"

Roland crossed his arms and gave the commander a pointed look. 

"I'm not asking for details." She held up her hands. "Just if he was ever here." 

The AI cast a long, knowing glance at Tom. _During each of the aforementioned dates, yes._

Sarah's eyebrows shot up. " _What?!_ " She turned to the captain, who was now leaned back with his face in both hands. "Oh my god, Tom! Why the hell didn't you tell me that's why you couldn't make game night _all_ those times?!"

"Oh, come on!" He flung both hands out in front of him. "If I'd walked up to you and said _'Hey, guess what Sarah? I got my ass fucked apart by the Master Chief last night!'_ would you have believed me?!" 

"Maybe," she quipped. "Weirder stuff has happened on this ship."

"Oh, so me sleeping with John counts as weird?" Tom shot back.

Sarah gave him another shit-eating grin. " _John?_ " she repeated, then laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them while she let the implication sink in. A split second later, it hit him.

"I...he… His name isn't classified, _Sarah!_ " He fumbled.

She laughed. "So, what does he call you? Tom? Or _captain?_ "

 _Can I leave now? :[_ Roland asked amid the heated back-and-forth.

"We, uh..." Tom paused, as if he'd remembered something sad. "We're still working on that." He laughed gently.

"That is... surprisingly cute," she replied, her grin fading into a fond smile. "All joking aside, I'm happy for you, Tom." 

"Thanks. Are you done 'interrogating' me, then?" He picked up his coffee again and gave it a swirl, then seemed to think better of trying to drink it and set the mug back on the table.

"One more question." Sarah picked up her own mug and took a sip. "What's he like?"

"In _bed_?!" 

Sarah snorted. "No, as a _person_!" I have exactly _zero_ interest in the excruciating details of your boot-knocking, Thomas." 

He was quiet for a moment while he gave the question some thought. 

"I hate to sound cliche, but… he's the definition of a gentle giant, really. Doesn't talk much. But you can see it, etched into his skin and eyes, that he's been though a lot… and _lost_ a lot." Tom smiled with a fondness Sarah hadn't seen before. "And I was planning on telling you. I just wanted to wait and see how things played out between us before I told anyone we're sort of a thing."

Sarah smiled and gave him an understanding nod. "If only we could all be so lucky."

Something moved across the room, and they both looked over at Tom's desk. Roland was waving a pair of semaphore flags to and fro, each one held out at a forty-five degree angle: _Attention!_

"Roland?" Tom inquired.

A line of text scrolled past above him that read, _Am I dismissed, sir?_

"Yes, Roland. And you can say words again." Tom scoffed and turned back to Sarah. "A perfect example of 'malicious compliance' if I ever saw one."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Sirs." Roland saluted before he vanished. 

"So." Sarah downed the rest of her coffee and held up her data pad. "How about a game? Bet I can sink your battleship."

"You really want to bet on that? I sank your battleship five times in a row last time we played." Tom reached over and picked up his datapad. 

"Credits where your mouth is, flyboy. You're on."


End file.
